When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
16Comment threads
35Thread replies
0Followers
Most reacted comment
Hottest comment thread
5Comment authors
Recent comment authors
Connect with
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, who served as CBC chair in the last Congress, also negotiated with Republicans to draw herself a safe seat in exchange for a deeper red gerrymander of Ohio https://t.co/9JPvrAnH7npic.twitter.com/KqxsCgjJ5k
🚨NEW: How pundits manufactured the lie that corporate profits aren’t responsible for inflation — and how that lie was used to justify policies that crushed America’s working class.
None of the pundits have offered an apology even as data show they lied. https://t.co/SZDxi4eyrP
Florida Democrats were dancing with Republicans after a legislative session that banned abortions, attacked trans people, destroyed immigrants rights, and cut back protections for union members and tenants. pic.twitter.com/X2ztgqU9Yn
There is NO way Anna Eskamani supports any of this FRightwingnut/DeSh1tface crap. She said that the impromptu dancing is just a fun thing the Reps do. The state Democrats are a rock solid block against the MAGA jerks. They vote together against the FRightwing horse manure.
As if raising the minimum wage would be unpopular with voters in these states. The true reason these Dems vote against it is because it is unpopular with their “business allies” (donors).
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is creating a political headache for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) by pushing hard for a vote on a bill to raise the national minimum wage to $17 an hour — a proposal Senate Democrats facing tough reelection races opposed in 2021.
Sanders, who remains very popular with the Democratic Party’s progressive base, warned Thursday there would be “political consequences” for lawmakers who oppose his effort.
“We’re going to push it as quickly and hard as we can,” Sanders told reporters at a Thursday press conference.
“Right now we’re focusing on making sure that we have the votes in the Senate and the House to raise the minimum wage,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a state in the country where people do not believe we should raise the minimum wage. I would hope that every member of Congress understands and there will be political consequences … if they don’t.”
Sanders’s proposal to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $17 an hour over five years is an updated version of the proposal he pushed in 2021 to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which eight Senate Democrats voted against.
Three of those senators face tough reelection races: Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who left the Democratic Party in December to become an Independent.
Schumer wants to protect his vulnerable colleagues from taking tough votes before the 2024 election, when Democrats will have to defend 23 seats to keep their narrow Senate majority.
Republicans have only 10 seats up for reelection next year.
Manchin said in 2021 he would instead support raising the minimum wage to $11 an hour and indexing it for inflation.
Tester at the time voiced concern about imposing a sudden and dramatic increase in the minimum wage.
“I think the minimum wage needs to come up. But I think we need to extend it out a ways before it hits the $15 figure,” he said.
And Sinema came under a storm of criticism that year for giving the Senate floor clerk a little curtsy and a thumbs down when she voted against adding the wage provision to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Angus King (I-Maine) also voted against it.
Sanders said last year he would consider supporting primary challengers against Manchin and Sinema in the 2024 election cycle after they also refused to support a change to the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass voting rights legislation.
Manchin is not expected to face any serious challenge in the Democratic primary, but Sinema, if she runs for a second term, would do so as an independent and likely face a Republican and Democratic opponent in the general election.
Sanders on Thursday declined to say whether he will support Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who is running for Sinema’s seat, or another Democratic challenger in the Arizona Senate race.
Neither Manchin nor Sinema have announced whether they will run for new terms.
Schumer didn’t schedule another vote on raising the minimum wage in the last Congress after Sanders’s minimum wage proposal was blocked by a vote of 58-42.
And the Democratic leader is not expected to schedule a vote before the next election on a $17-an-hour minimum wage proposal that’s likely to divide his caucus. It wouldn’t muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster and would have little-to-no chance of passing the Republican-controlled House.
Furthermore, voting on a $17-an-hour national minimum wage proposal would carry political risk for vulnerable Democratic incumbents running in Republican-leaning states like Montana and West Virginia.
The proposal is already drawing criticism from business allies.
The Employment Policies Institute, a nonprofit research organization that has been linked to the restaurant industry, said Sanders’s proposal will result in two million lost jobs.
“Economists have demonstrated how harmful this unprecedented increase will be. Yet Sanders and his union allies are choosing politics over employees for bad policy that’s already been rejected by members of Sanders’s own party,” said Michael Saltsman, executive director of the group.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who is running for reelection in a state that Trump carried in 2016 but Biden narrowly won in 2020, said he would need to review Sanders’s proposal before making a decision on how to vote.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is set at the federal minimum level: $7.25 per hour.
“I’m looking at that bill now,” said Casey, who sits on the HELP Committee, which Sanders chairs.
“We have a long way to get to $15. The governor is pushing pretty hard on $15 [an hour,]” he said, referring to Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. “Just getting to $15 is a lot of work.”
Coons and Shaheen explained Thursday they are not necessarily opposed to raising the federal minimum wage. They said they voted against Sanders’s proposal two years ago because they didn’t like how it was structured.
“My concern actually had to do with the tipped wage,” Coons said. “But not the $15.
“The most important thing we can do is pass an increase in the minimum wage that includes an escalator, so we don’t have this step function where we don’t raise it for 15 years and then we raise it by a lot,” he said.
He said there are many things to balance, and the impact of raising the minimum wage on inflation is one of them.
Shaheen said she hasn’t seen what Sanders is proposing but emphasized she does not oppose the idea of raising the minimum wage.
“My opposition wasn’t to the minimum wage, it was the way they were structuring the bill,” she said. “I think we need to raise the minimum wage; I want to make sure we do it in a way that includes all industries.”
“…a vote on a bill to raise the national minimum wage to $17 an hour — a proposal Senate Democrats facing tough reelection races opposed in 2021.” ——————— Cough, cough, cough…oh really? These bought off DINO yahoos are going to face the wrath of the voters if they finally raise the minimum/slavery wage? Get me some smelling salts cos I’m having the vapors. Go get ’em, Bernie!!!
Even Hochul seems to be wondering why the white marine was let go. Perhaps he could have offered a few dollars to Neeley instead of choking him to death.
A video of a subway rider choking and killing a homeless man on a New York City train lasted for four minutes.
What happened may seem clear to a layperson viewing the footage.
The homeless man, Jordan Neely, is seen writhing, trying to get free from the arms and legs of the other subway riders who are pinning him down. As the minutes tick by early Monday afternoon on a northbound F train in Manhattan, Mr. Neely visibly weakens as the arm wrapped around his neck stays tight.
After he stops moving, the riders hold him down for about 50 more seconds. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
But Mr. Neely’s attacker has not been arrested or charged with a crime, raising questions about how such cases are processed by New York’s legal system and angering many left-leaning politicians and activists who have called the process racist. They have asked why the subway rider, who appeared to be white, was not kept in custody, and argued that were he Black, he would have been.
Law enforcement officials say the specific sequence of events and the laws that may come into play make any potential criminal case more complex than the video would suggest.
Mr. Neely, a Black man, had been screaming at passengers when the other rider put him in a chokehold for several minutes, until he went limp. He died from compression to his neck as a result of the chokehold, according to a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, who ruled his death a homicide on Wednesday. (That ruling means that the other passenger killed Mr. Neely, but is not a finding of legal culpability.)
On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York called the video of Mr. Neely’s death “horrific” and said “there have to be consequences.”
“It became very clear he was not going to cause harm to these other people,” Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, said after an unrelated event in Manhattan. “The video of three individuals holding him down until the last breath was snuffed out of him, I would say was a very extreme response.”
The man who choked Mr. Neely, a former marine who has not been identified, is being represented by Raiser and Kenniff, a Manhattan law firm whose founding partners were both in the armed services.
Thomas Kenniff, who was the Republican candidate for Manhattan district attorney in 2021, said that the firm had been in contact with the district attorney’s office and the Police Department about the incident, but did not have any further comment.
The rider who choked Mr. Neely was interviewed by the police and released, and a person familiar with the matter said the rider is not viewed by the authorities as a flight risk.
If he is charged by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, the man who applied the chokehold would most likely argue that the force he used against Mr. Neely was justified. Prosecutors would have to prove that he used deadly force without having believed that Mr. Neely was also using deadly force or was about to.
And in order to show those things in court, prosecutors would need to have interviewed every one of the many witnesses to the encounter, to make sure that none of them would say something that would hurt the prosecutors’ case. Prosecutors do not typically bring cases unless they believe they can win them.
New York law imposes multiple deadlines on prosecutors once they have charged someone with a felony. Under New York law, a defendant in custody who has been charged with a felony must be released within a strict time limit unless the district attorney wins an indictment from a grand jury and alerts the court to that indictment or the defendant has consented to a delay.
A second time limit, which governs a defendant’s right to a speedy trial can also come into effect after an indictment, though it does not apply in most cases in which a defendant is accused of a homicide.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it was still looking at a variety of factors.
“As part of our rigorous ongoing investigation, we will review the medical examiner’s report, assess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible and obtain additional medical records,” Doug Cohen, a spokesman for the office, said in a statement.
In a news release about Mr. Neely’s killing on Thursday, the police asked for the public’s help in identifying witnesses they can interview. Prosecutors have also encouraged witnesses to come forward.
In the video, two other riders are seen helping to pin down Mr. Neely while the former marine had his arms wrapped around his neck. Other passengers looked on.
The responses of the people in the subway car and of law enforcement officials have prompted fury among some New Yorkers about the death of a Black man at the hands of a man who appeared to be white.
“The initial response by our legal system to this killing is disturbing and puts on display for the world the double standards that Black people and other people of color continue to face,” the City Council speaker, Adrienne Adams, said in a statement.
Another rider who had encountered Mr. Neely a couple of weeks earlier said he had seemed upset, but had calmed down when she offered him a few dollars. She said he had thanked her “for five minutes.”
I heard that a grand jury has been called. It’s very obvious that the marine was white and the victim, black. The marine has been identified btw. If that happened down here, DeSh1tface would give that vet yahoo a medal. This country won’t make it to its 300th birthday if the FRightwingnuts aren’t brought under serious control!
The fight between Sens. Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse over who should take over the Senate Judiciary Committee is quickly evolving into larger strife over the distribution of power in the Democratic caucus.
Senate Democrats are now revisiting the rules governing their leadership posts amid the contest to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, according to senators and aides familiar with the matter. And with Whitehouse taking issue with Durbin’s bid to serve as both party whip and the top Democrat on Judiciary Committee, the discussion could lead to far-reaching changes in a caucus long run strictly on seniority.
“We have a lot of new talent in our caucus and we need to find an equitable and fair way to make sure that that talent is leveraged and that people don’t have to serve for 12 or 18 years before they get in positions where they can really make a difference,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who is in his second term. “This is a conversation whose time has come.”
In a series of interviews, Democratic senators said the debate is less about Durbin vs. Whitehouse and more about whether they should adopt an approach similar to that of Senate Republicans, who have term limits on leadership positions, chairmanships and ranking member roles. Some senators in their second or third terms have little path forward until more senior members retire.
Durbin, for example, has never led a committee and he’s been in the Senate since 1997. He said he sees Whitehouse’s challenge less as an effort for structural reform than a play for his own ambition.
“As I understand it, I am the object of his reform. For himself,” Durbin, the party whip since 2005, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has stayed neutral on the matter so far, and is leaving it up to the caucus to decide on how to move forward. Schumer tends to carefully manage his caucus on issues like this, sensitive to how delicate internal battles can become when they spill out in public.
But some members want him to take a more active role in the dispute.
“I think it’s more about distributing the workload and giving people responsibility and holding them accountable. And by the way that starts with Chuck,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) “He’s the leader, so he’s got to set the example of delegating power. That’s a sign of a good leader and I think more of it needs to be done.”
The issue came up during Democrats’ caucus call Tuesday and has already been raised in smaller meetings. It is unlikely to be resolved this week as Congress races through its lame duck session and tries to revive stalled coronavirus aid talks while also funding the government.
“It’s probably time for us to think about ways to give more people a chance at leadership positions, and I think it’s much more fair to have that conversation in a way that’s not about one position or one or two members,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) “This is ultimately going to be a broader conversation about caucus rules.”
“I’m a little reluctant to just change a rule to affect one person,” added Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). “If we’re really going to talk about more leadership opportunities for everybody, then let it be part of that discussion and we can solve it as a comprehensive solution rather than just cherry pick this.”
The discussion could lead to several caucus votes on their rules in the near future according to Democratic sources familiar with the matter. While the outcome remains unclear, the internal rancor is unusual for a caucus that prides itself on its unity.
Durbin and Whitehouse are taking different approaches to the race. While Durbin has publicly announced he wants to lead Judiciary, Whitehouse has simply stated that the caucus should decide and he will abide by their choice.
Durbin supporters say that the party’s chief vote-counter already has the support to secure the Judiciary post and keep his job as whip. But some progressives are pushing for Whitehouse, who they view as a more aggressive combatant on the committee.
The future of the Judiciary Committee is critical as Joe Biden prepares to enter the White House next month and looks to fill judicial vacancies left by President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. The top job on the panel will be even harder for Democrats if Republicans hold on to the Senate after the Georgia runoffs next month.
Some Democrats were reluctant to discuss the internal caucus dynamics at all.
“The people who have lost their jobs, their businesses, are about to be kicked out of their house could care less what we do in our leadership,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). “Nobody gives a damn about this, in the public.”
🚨#UPDATE: Officials have updated and now confirming that this explosion took place at Shell refinery plant in deer park Texas two people are reportedly injured as it’s unclear what caused the explosion officials are saying there is no threat to the public at this time pic.twitter.com/2ricaZYF6B
Was watching the last of the King Charles’s coronation, and when I saw Camilla, my gut reaction was “it should have been Diana.”
Camilla was the big change in this gig. She’s the first divorcee to become Queen. Charles is just another dude in a long line of men. Queen Elizabeth was the 3rd woman.
Same down here, Ms. Benny. Diana would have been a gorgeous queen. Camilla—blech! just sitting down at my aging desktop to get the latest Birdie scoop. 🙂 Hubster and I walked the grounds of Westminster Abbey back over 20 years ago when we did a bike (motorcycle) run through the German/Austrian Alps. I’m not exaggerating which I write this, but I could smell the history–literally. We sure don’t have that here.
Multiple people were shot at an outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, on Saturday, sending hundreds of shoppers fleeing in panic in the latest gun violence to strike the country.
Calls about shots being fired came in about 3:40 p.m. from the Allen Premium Outlets. A dispatcher with Allen police confirmed the department was investigating a shooting but couldn’t say more.
WFAA-TV reported that police on the scene said there were multiple victims, including children.
Rep. Keith Self, who represents the area that includes the mall, said he had confirmed with law enforcement that the shooter is dead, and that there was no one else involved in the attack.
Their conditions were not immediately known, but WFAA reported that the Collin County Sheriff said the shooter is dead.
A crowd of hundreds of people who had been shopping stood outside, across the street from the mall, Saturday evening. Officers circulated among them asking if anyone had seen what happened.
This would be about 25 miles north of Dallas on US 75. This is getting old.
Got the NYT home page up this am. Steeling my cynical self to read about the shootings. We saw the first reports come in right after the running of the Derby. Man, last night I was talking to a good pal who is very conservative ‘cept she’s no X-tian Fundie. She told me bad stuff is building internationally, and one of the things she was referring to is climate crisis. The other is nuclear war. She’s a grandma. Believe me, folks in this country know, and they’re sick of the for-profit media.
Abbott went to the GQP no1 hit (below). i wonder if maybe making it mandatory for all news outlets to show the carnage and or aftermath of a mass shooting on TV. maybe the gaping wounds and body parts strewn everywhere espically with children might force the congresscritters into action. The picters and video that was shown on the nightly news during Vietnam was a factor of getting us out. America got sick of it and forced congress to act. Maybe the GQP should be made to walk thru every mass shooting and see the carnage like the Germans were made to do at Auschwitz. The 2A is outdated in its current form and needs a serious rewrite.
In TX Nothing that MASS Shooter had on him was illegal, not the Assualt Rifle, Deadly Ammo, Armor, Large Cap Mags not even walking into that Mall Dressed exactly as he was, Police wouldn't have been allowed to stop him walking into Mall thanks to GOP Gov Abbott TX Gun Laws.. https://t.co/K7o5aLc5Qipic.twitter.com/ez6mDofkDI
Texans own among the most guns per capita of any state. If more guns and fewer gun laws made us safer, Texas would be the safest state. Instead it has high rates of gun suicide and homicide, and is home to four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in the US.
Watching this tonight. It’s actually an amazing action 1940 B&W movie with Errol Flynn at the top of his game. Flora Robson is one of the great cinema Queen Elizabeths. Spain is obviously the evil Nazis and England is heroic England. Excellent propaganda film.
Can’t believe they don’t feature Robson in the clip. She and Errol are the best things in the movie.
wpDiscuz
Same comment about Clyburn applies to this DINO.
Figures. Race sure doesn’t hold a monopoly on greed and corruption.
Yep, it doesent discriminate.
What a load of you-know-what. Even my RW pals know it’s craporate price gouging plus supply line issues.
There is NO way Anna Eskamani supports any of this FRightwingnut/DeSh1tface crap. She said that the impromptu dancing is just a fun thing the Reps do. The state Democrats are a rock solid block against the MAGA jerks. They vote together against the FRightwing horse manure.
The polite name is Obummer.
As if raising the minimum wage would be unpopular with voters in these states. The true reason these Dems vote against it is because it is unpopular with their “business allies” (donors).
https://thehill.com/homenews/3989284-sanderss-17-minimum-wage-proposal-creates-political-headache-for-schumer/amp/
“…a vote on a bill to raise the national minimum wage to $17 an hour — a proposal Senate Democrats facing tough reelection races opposed in 2021.”
———————
Cough, cough, cough…oh really? These bought off DINO yahoos are going to face the wrath of the voters if they finally raise the minimum/slavery wage? Get me some smelling salts cos I’m having the vapors. Go get ’em, Bernie!!!
Tester, King, Manchin and Sinema will be No. That’s why it won’t pass unless there is some other sweetner.
Even Hochul seems to be wondering why the white marine was let go. Perhaps he could have offered a few dollars to Neeley instead of choking him to death.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/nyregion/subway-chokehold-arrest-decision.html
I heard that a grand jury has been called. It’s very obvious that the marine was white and the victim, black. The marine has been identified btw. If that happened down here, DeSh1tface would give that vet yahoo a medal. This country won’t make it to its 300th birthday if the FRightwingnuts aren’t brought under serious control!
Judiciary Chair could have been Whitehouse. Instead Senate Dems chose worthless Durbin. Of course.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/01/senate-democrats-judiciary-chair-441746
What Georgia Senate runoffs? I think POLITICO blew it! Aint, do you know what’s up here?
I haven’t looked into this, but I’m guessing it has to do with judges to a certain extent.
???
The article is from December 2020.
That explains it–thx, jcb. 🙂
Man, you hit the nail on the head about Durbin, jcb. 🙁
Really great pick 🤮🤮🤮
smdh
Me, too. Where’s my barf bag? Still nothing semi-senile does shocks me anymore.
More likely chosen by the new chief of staff.
T and R x 3, jcb!!☮️🙂👍👏 Happy Cinco de Mayo and dawgs rule back at ya!🤎🐶
This is figurative of the devastation taking place in Texas. Rogues.
Saw it on the ABC Infotainment “News” last night. That smoke looked precisely like what it is: black poison.
all ready know the cause ,the summer driving season ,Now the gouging begins
Was watching the last of the King Charles’s coronation, and when I saw Camilla, my gut reaction was “it should have been Diana.”
Camilla was the big change in this gig. She’s the first divorcee to become Queen. Charles is just another dude in a long line of men. Queen Elizabeth was the 3rd woman.
Same down here, Ms. Benny. Diana would have been a gorgeous queen. Camilla—blech! just sitting down at my aging desktop to get the latest Birdie scoop. 🙂 Hubster and I walked the grounds of Westminster Abbey back over 20 years ago when we did a bike (motorcycle) run through the German/Austrian Alps. I’m not exaggerating which I write this, but I could smell the history–literally. We sure don’t have that here.
Thier on sale right now , relatively cheap even for a Billionaire
😥😥 sadly its true, the GQP is exceeding them. Defascist has been on a roll in Fla latley
I saw this in the LA Daily:
This would be about 25 miles north of Dallas on US 75. This is getting old.
Got the NYT home page up this am. Steeling my cynical self to read about the shootings. We saw the first reports come in right after the running of the Derby. Man, last night I was talking to a good pal who is very conservative ‘cept she’s no X-tian Fundie. She told me bad stuff is building internationally, and one of the things she was referring to is climate crisis. The other is nuclear war. She’s a grandma. Believe me, folks in this country know, and they’re sick of the for-profit media.
Abbott went to the GQP no1 hit (below). i wonder if maybe making it mandatory for all news outlets to show the carnage and or aftermath of a mass shooting on TV. maybe the gaping wounds and body parts strewn everywhere espically with children might force the congresscritters into action. The picters and video that was shown on the nightly news during Vietnam was a factor of getting us out. America got sick of it and forced congress to act. Maybe the GQP should be made to walk thru every mass shooting and see the carnage like the Germans were made to do at Auschwitz. The 2A is outdated in its current form and needs a serious rewrite.
We’re damned lucky Floridumb hasn’t caught up yet!
Just another member of the well NOT well regulated militia that happened to kill 8 and injure 7.
JHCOAC!!!!
+270! It’s sickening!!
+270!
Watching this tonight. It’s actually an amazing action 1940 B&W movie with Errol Flynn at the top of his game. Flora Robson is one of the great cinema Queen Elizabeths. Spain is obviously the evil Nazis and England is heroic England. Excellent propaganda film.
Can’t believe they don’t feature Robson in the clip. She and Errol are the best things in the movie.